Planet Innovation has launched a new digital health venture, Vitalic Medical, which is addressing two major problems for general wards in hospitals around the world: undetected patient deterioration and in-hospital patient falls.
In partnership with Ramsay Health Care, one of the world’s largest private hospital operators, Vitalic Medical has developed a non-invasive monitoring system that supports nurses and staff in hospitals and aged care settings by detecting early signs of patient deterioration and alerting staff of potential patient falls.
Changes in patient demographics and global healthcare trends are resulting in older patients with more complex health issues often staying more frequently in individual rooms where they are less visible to staff. These challenges, along with increased nurse workloads, has led to an increased probability that:
- early signs of patient deterioration will go unnoticed, particularly for those presumed to be recovering in unmonitored general wards; and
- elderly or confused patients will fall as they attempt to leave their beds instead of calling a nurse.
Sue Dafnias, CEO of Vitalic Medical, said: “The Vitalic team has collected extensive insights into the challenges facing nurses as they care for patients in unmonitored general wards. By focusing on the particular needs of hospital and aged care environments our digital solutions fit naturally into the work habits of the clinical staff.”
Vitalic Medical has already run a successful in-hospital trial, and has recently been selected as one of five companies to receive funding and support through the ANDHealth+, a program to support the development and commercialization of clinically validated digital health technologies.
As a member of the ANDHealth+ 2018 cohort, Vitalic will receive funding, advice and support from a bespoke panel of industry experts, as well as significant in-kind access to specialist third party services.
Sue said Vitalic planned to put the ANDHealth funding and support towards an extended hospital trial, defining the regulatory pathway, and conducting product-market fit research in global markets.
